Kabul/Islamabad | October 12, 2025 — Fierce gunfire and artillery exchanges broke out along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border on Saturday after Taliban forces launched retaliatory attacks against Pakistani troops, accusing Islamabad of conducting air strikes inside Afghan territory.
Senior officials from several Afghan provinces confirmed that Taliban fighters targeted Pakistani positions in response to air raids allegedly carried out by Pakistan two days earlier. Explosions were reported in Kabul and parts of southeastern Afghanistan on Thursday, prompting the Taliban-run Defence Ministry to accuse Pakistan of violating Afghan sovereignty.
“In retaliation for air strikes by the Pakistani army on Kabul, our forces are engaged in heavy clashes in multiple border areas,” the ministry said in a statement.
The Taliban’s Defence Ministry spokesperson, Enayat Khowarazm, later told AFP that the “successful operations” had concluded around midnight, warning that any future cross-border attacks would be met with a “firm response.”
Pakistan Denies Air Strike Claims
Islamabad has not confirmed involvement in the air raids but called on Kabul to stop harbouring militants from the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a banned group accused of staging deadly attacks against Pakistani forces since 2021.
A senior official in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province said that Taliban units opened fire at several points along the border, prompting Pakistani troops to respond with heavy artillery.
“We fired light and then heavy artillery at four points along the border. Pakistani forces responded and shot down three Afghan quadcopters suspected of carrying explosives,” the official said, adding that no casualties had been reported so far.
Officials from the Afghan provinces of Kunar, Nangarhar, Paktia, Khost, and Helmand also confirmed the cross-border fighting.
Rising Tensions and Regional Response
The clashes mark a new flashpoint in already tense Pakistan-Afghanistan relations, with both countries accusing each other of allowing militants to operate across the porous frontier.
The TTP, which shares ideological roots with the Afghan Taliban, has claimed responsibility for a string of recent attacks in northwestern Pakistan, including one earlier Saturday that killed 20 security personnel and three civilians.
In recent months, Islamabad has repeatedly urged the Taliban government to take action against TTP sanctuaries inside Afghanistan. Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif told parliament last week that diplomatic efforts had failed.
“We will not tolerate this any longer,” Asif warned. “Those facilitating terrorists, whether on our soil or Afghan soil, will be dealt with collectively.”
Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi appealed to both countries to “exercise restraint” and prevent further escalation in the region.
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